Portal:Trains/Did you know/Main page, 2021

2021

 * ... that despite its name, the Branford Steam Railroad has not used steam locomotives since 1960?
 * ... that the first train headlight was simply a bonfire on a train car pushed in front of a locomotive?
 * ... that the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad never actually reached Boston or Barre?
 * ... that to reflect the neighbourhood's heritage as a songbird-watching community, Singapore's Mayflower MRT station is decorated with 22 bird sculptures?
 * ... that a branch line of the New Haven and Northampton Railroad was so difficult to build, the area was nicknamed "Satan's Kingdom"?
 * ... that the Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad was also known as the "Red Line" because it was consistently unprofitable?
 * ... that the railway network in Lithuania will have its first high-speed line by 2026?
 * ... that Singapore's Upper Thomson MRT station is decorated with 88 animal figures, most of which are crab-eating macaques?
 * ... that the platform shelters in the redevelopment concept design for Bayswater railway station, Perth, were criticised for looking like a trestle table?
 * ... that the first railroad in New England was powered by horses?
 * ... that the Railroad and Bank Building was built with six miles (9.7 km) of pneumatic tubes used to send items anywhere within the building in under ten seconds?
 * ... that the tunnel boring machines that dug the London's new Northern line extension were named after the first British astronaut Helen Sharman, and British aviation pioneer Amy Johnson?
 * ... that Winchester Highlands station was used for church meetings in the 1880s?
 * ... that Singapore's Nicoll Highway MRT station had to be relocated as a result of a 2004 tunnel collapse near the station?
 * ... that you could travel with stuffed animals on the Asahiyama Zoo KiHa 183 series train service?


 * ... that the Leschenault Lady (pictured), which is believed to be the oldest operational Australian-built steam locomotive, is returning to steam today (22 August) after a lengthy overhaul?
 * ... that the Sanford station was often confused with the Stamford station?
 * ... that an artwork featured at Singapore's Marina South Pier MRT station was commissioned for the country's 50th year of independence?
 * ... that the two elliptical roofs of Singapore's Expo MRT station reflect sunlight into the station while cooling it?
 * ... that the design of Suffolk Downs station was inspired by medieval fortified churches?


 * ... that the original entrance to New York City's 72nd Street station (pictured) was once called "a miserable monstrosity as to architecture" and recommended for demolition?


 * ... that Carlisle & Finch used carbon-arc technology in both toy trains (example pictured) and military searchlights?
 * ... that writer Mark Twain frequently used Cooper station to meet with a friend?


 * ... that trees keep the trains (pictured) running at Kominato Station?
 * ... that Silver Hill station may have been named for rumors of Captain Kidd's treasure – or just a stand of trees?
 * ... that some of the proposed routes for the current effort to build a Uinta Basin Rail line are based on routes surveyed more than 100 years ago?
 * ... that the Astor Place station was flooded by a subterranean river after firefighters extinguished a blaze at a building above it?
 * ... that Hastings station had neither platforms nor shelter for waiting passengers?
 * ... that in one of Singapore's largest drainage diversions, a canal had to be redirected into steel pipes while constructing Chinatown MRT station?


 * ... that the Siuro railway station (pictured), located in the Finnish town of Nokia, was proclaimed a nationally significant built cultural environment by the Finnish Heritage Agency?
 * ... that the first Route 128 station was built in just one week?


 * ... that the now-closed Kangasala railway station (pictured) in Finland was designed in the National Romantic style, unlike many contemporaneous buildings?


 * ... that in support of Allied logistics in the Southern France campaign, engineers repaired a bridge (pictured) using the carriage of a German railway gun?
 * ... that Primrose Hill Tunnel was the first railway tunnel to be built in London?
 * ... that Singapore's Punggol station is the longest station on the North East line, at 320 metres?
 * ... that the architect of Singapore's Stadium MRT station rotated the original plan on its side after being forced to revise the station's design?


 * ... that the decision not to include a duck with the statue of Sir Nigel Gresley (pictured) led to "possibly the most acrimonious argument in the long, pedantic history of the railway hobbyist"?
 * ... that 6,800 Columbia University students and faculty signed a petition to remove an entrance to the 116th Street–Columbia University station?
 * ... that contractors digging New York City's Joralemon Street Tunnel found the remains of a ship?
 * ... that U.S. senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan proposed an expansion of New York Penn Station as a homage to the original station, where he had once shined shoes?
 * ... that the IRT Powerhouse was intended to be the largest power generating station on earth when it was built in the 1900s?